CES has an outreach-packed spring 2026
We’ve been presenting our research all around the region, and beyond! Make sure to stop by the BIOL 305 Film Showcase on June 10 to see the latest creations from Dee’s video students!
BIOL 305 Film Showcase 2026
Dr. Dee Boersma’s Video Storytelling class (BIOL 305) would like to invite everyone to the open screening of their final projects on Wednesday, June 10th from 10:30-12:20 in GWN 301. Watch student-made short films about climate change, wildlife, ecology, scientific research, and much more! The students have been working hard all quarter, creating PSAs and short documentaries to gain skills
Field Updates: Argentina, February 2026
Written by Dr. Katie Holt and Sofia Denkovski Finishing the season with a full house We had a full house when Katie Holt arrived at Punta Tombo on February 8th, but we fit everyone! For one week, Chloe, Sofia, Anna, Katie, Sonia de Berry, and Dee Boersma all stayed and worked under one roof. Katie’s arrival was just past the
Field Updates: Argentina, January 2026
Written on January 20, 2026 by Chloe Rabinowitz; edited by Kalyna Durbak Our field work crew has been here for a while! Sofia Denkovski, Anna Testorf, and Chloe Rabinowitz arrived in Punta Tombo on January 6th, followed by Dr. Dee Boersma on the 12th. We have been getting well acquainted with all our active research nests and have been progressing
Expedition Cruise to Baffin Island: September 1-18, 2026
Join Dr. Dee Boersma, Dr. Sue Moore, and Dr. Nigella Hillgarth on a cruise to Baffin Island! This will be an expedition from Greenland to the Canadian Arctic and into the Northwest Passages, from September 1 – 18, 2026. Sail in the same waters as Roald Amundsen and his crew of six during their 1903-06 successful navigation of the Northwest
Dr. Dee Boersma signs AAAS’s Book of Members
On October 11, 2025 Dr. Dee Boersma finally signed the AAAS’s Book of Members during the 2025 induction ceremony. Congratulations Dee! Dee was officially inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021. Dee couldn’t make the 2021 induction ceremony due to COVID, and field work trips kept her from attending a ceremony after 2021.
Interacting climatic and biotic drivers of population responses to climate change
Full title: Comparative life-cycle analyses reveal interacting climatic and biotic drivers of population responses to climate change Dr. Briana Abrahms and Dr. Dee Boersma collaborated on this study, published in PNAS Nexus in September. The study looked at long-term data from 41 plant and animal species to understand how climate change and other factors together affect survival and reproduction. The
Field Updates: Galápagos, Summer 2025
Dr. Dee Boersma, Dr. Sue Moore, and Dr. Caroline Cappello were in the Galápagos from July 25 – August 3 to survey the penguins on the islands. They were able to measure 36 of them—16 more than last year! Measuring penguins is an essential part of our project, which is maintaining continuity with our decades-long dataset on the species. Dr. Boersma began studying
Dr. Dee Boersma featured in latest National Geographic!
Make sure to pick up the latest copy of National Geographic and read about Dr. Dee Boersma‘s work on Galápagos penguins! Reporter Rene Ebersole traveled with Dee and recent grad Caroline Cappello last summer as they checked up on the human-built Galápagos penguin nests they built in 2010. Included in the article is a sweet photo of Dee and Caroline
Field update: Argentina, December 2024 – January 2025
This field season is the first time we’ve been at Punta Tombo, Argentina persistently from October to March since before the pandemic! We’ve seen chicks hatch and watched them grow into chubby fledglings. Unfortunately many died in December with their bellies full; we suspect it was due to toxic algae, which could also be the cause of the 71 southern
Plasticity syndromes in wild vertebrates: Patterns and consequences of individual variation in plasticity across multiple behaviours
Animals can change their behavior to survive in environments that are constantly changing, a skill known as behavioral plasticity. Scientists have suggested that some animals might show “plasticity syndromes,” meaning they are flexible in many behaviors at the same time. Plasticity syndromes in wild vertebrates could help them respond better to change. To test this idea, researchers studied Magellanic penguins
Removing institutional barriers to long-term fieldwork is critical for advancing ecology
Abstract: Long-term fieldwork is essential for ecology and conservation, but is hindered by institutional barriers, such as the publish-or-perish culture of academia, and funding limitations. Here, we discuss these challenges and propose strategies to overcome them, such as broadening evaluation metrics and supporting inclusivity, to advance scientific insight and societal equity. Authors: Kasim Rafiq, Neil R. Jordan, Weldon McNutt, John
Foot darkening with age in Spheniscus penguins: applications and functions
From the abstract: “We found that Spheniscus penguins have pale feet at hatching and the feet become darker with age throughout the lives of individuals. We showed that we can accurately predict the age structure of a colony of Magellanic penguins Spheniscus magellanicus, but not the ages of individual penguins, based on a sample of foot colors.” Authors: Ginger Rebstock,
Field Updates: Galápagos Islands, summer 2024
In July 2024, Dr. Dee Boersma and Dr. Caroline Cappello traveled to the Galápagos Islands for a penguin expedition unlike any they’d experienced before. Since 2010, CES has collaborated with Galápagos National Park and conservationist Godfrey Merlen to visit penguin breeding areas and conduct research. After Godfrey’s passing in 2023, CES—with heavy hearts but optimism for the future—sought a new
Increasing environmental variability inhibits evolutionary rescue in a long-lived vertebrate
“Using a multidecadal dataset on Magellanic penguins, we show that despite strong selection on body size, some environmental conditions favored larger bodies, and others favored smaller bodies, thus preventing consistent evolution in one direction or the other […] Such findings highlight that fluctuating selection can be driven by environmental variability, and these processes could eliminate the possibility of evolutionary rescue